Sky Warriors cover art

Sky Warriors

British Airborne Forces in the Second World War

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Sky Warriors

By: Saul David
Narrated by: Adam James
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

From bestselling historian Saul David, a riveting new history of the British airborne experience across the Second World War.

The legendary ‘Red Devils’ were among the finest combat troops of the Second World War. Created at Churchill’s instigation in June 1940, they began as a single parachute battalion of 500 men and grew into three 10,000-strong airborne divisions: the 1st, 6th and 44th Indian, each composed of parachutists and glider-borne troops. Wearing their distinctive maroon berets, steel helmets and Dennison smocks, they served with distinction in every major theatre of the conflict – including North Africa, Sicily, mainland Europe and the Far East – and played a starring role in some most iconic airborne operations in history: the Bruneval Raid of February 1942; the capture of the Primasole, Pegasus and Arnhem Bridges in July 1943, June 1944 and September 1944 respectively; and Operation Varsity, the biggest parachute drop in history, near Wesel in Germany in March 1945.

©2024 Saul David (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers
20th Century Air Forces Great Britain Military Winston Churchill
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Arnhem: Black Tuesday cover art
The Last Para cover art
Footsloggers cover art
Burning Steel cover art
Normandy cover art
2SAS cover art
SBS – Silent Warriors cover art
D-Day: The Unheard Tapes cover art
SAS Great Escapes cover art
Who Will Defend Europe? cover art
Cinderella Boys cover art
Task Force Black cover art
Lion Rampant cover art
The Convoy cover art
The Battle for Moscow cover art
The Hill cover art

What listeners say about Sky Warriors

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    22
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    21
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Just Brilliant

Yet again Saul David tell a compelling and detailed story. Many WW2 historians will tell the ‘bigger picture’ by focusing in on individual people, but in my option no one does it as well as Saul. He brings the people alive and makes the stories more personal and engaging.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A new appreciation for British Airborne Forces

I had high expectations of Sky Warriors after reading Devil Dogs and Saul David doesn't disappoint. The story arc is well structured and holds focus, offering tantalizing glimpses of rabbit holes to explore further in the future (such as the use of airborne troops in the Far East). The historical characters he describes are vivid and make the listener want to find out more. Interesting to hear Saul's analysis of Arnhem, particularly around the role of Urquhart - and I'm still not a fan of Browning.
The audiobook's narration may not be everyone's cup of tea. However, if you like Allo Allo and can bear with ze accents, the performance doesn't get in the way of a great book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A well rounded account

This book gives a wwll rounded account of the British Paratrooper during WW2. Refreshing given the often American-centric modern takes. The book keeps a good pace and charts well known operations alongside little known ones. The Narration is on the whole good however there are a few questionable accents used but this could just be personal preference

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

AIRBORNE

great in history of the British Airborne Forces! Worth a listen and some amazing stories of the Airborne Warriors of WWII

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I couldn't stop listening.

Listening to this really zoned me out, it made me stop what I was doing and really gave me a mental image of the tough times they went through.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Epic story.

I Hated the attempt at Scottish accents but didn't ruin the story for me. Highly recommended 👌

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great read & narration

Great all round history of the units with emphasis on the big shows, N Africa, Sicily, Normandy, Market Garden & Rhine. I have to say though, I’ve read about Arnhem many times and this is the first time my heart broke a little for those lads and what they had to endure. Great narration all round with solid accents when required and not in a cheesy way. Really helps the flow of the narrative. Would recommend.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good but not outstanding

the overall story was very interesting. However, wasn't very impressed with the narrators use of regional accents throughout. I'm quite sure I would have grasped what was being said without them and I wouldn't have to have got slightly annoyed overtime I heard them.
There was also very little mentioned of 2nd Parachute Brigades drop into Southern France in support of operation Dragoon. that was an operation I knew little about and was wanting to hear more about it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Nothing New or Special

Maybe a good entry level book into British Airborne Forces in WW2, but more of a rehash of other works by different authors. Narration was absolutely RUINED by the narrator insisting on doing national and regional accents that were pretty laughable, since when did Major John Howard from 2 Oxf and Bucks Light Infantry sound like one of the Mitchell brothers from Eastenders!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!